allAfrica.com: Africa: Japan Sees Continent of Hope (Page 1 of 1)

In spite of the teething problems that Africa is confronted with, the Japanese government still has hope in the continent.

With a large population and rich natural resources on the vast continent, it believes that Africa has a huge potential for development and growth.

This is why Japan will host the fourth edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama in May 2008, and the G8 Hokkaido Toyako summit in July.

As the host country of these two international conferences, Japan will reflect the outcomes of the TICAD IV in the discussions at the G8 summit and have the voices of African countries heard by the world.

Resident Representative of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Ghana, Kunihiro Yamauchi says his country has thus offered to assist the continent in three priority areas, including boosting economic growth in Africa, ensuring human security and addressing environmental issues and climate change.

In the area of economic growth, Japan intends to strengthen support to make a strong economic growth in Africa, self-sustained, more pro-poor and inclusive (in areas including trade, investment, infrastructure development and agriculture).

To ensure human security, it has also offered to assist to help achieve the much talked-about Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), whilst consolidating peace and enhancing support towards democratisation and empowering individuals and economies.

In the area of climate change, it intends to strengthen the capacity of African countries to effectively respond to global environmental issues, since Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change.

This is based on Japans belief that with time, Africa has overcome various difficulties and continues to take steady steps toward its growth and development.

A number of African countries have been recording high rates of economic growth.

Africa as a whole has maintained more than 5% of economic growth since 2004.

There have recently been several unprecedented positive changes on both political and economic fronts on the continent. TOCAD IV is thus expected to focus on such positive trends in Africa and discuss various measures to shore up a 'vibrant Africa' by mobilising knowledge and resources of the international community.

Recent economic trends, such as the dissemination of information technology and the rise in prices of natural resources have had a positive effect on the economic growth of Africa.

These trends are providing Africans with a momentum for self-sustaining development.

It is believed that progress in consolidation of peace and democratisation achieved by Africa's self-help efforts has contributed to a partial stability of the continent, which in itself is an essential foundation for economic development, in spite of the pockets of disturbances in countries like Kenya, Zimbabwe and the Dafur region.

However, the Resident Representative of JICA, Mr. Yamauchi, believes that international peace, security and prosperity cannot be achieved unless African problems are solved.

This, according to him, is the reason why Japan is playing an active role in providing assistance to African countries through the TICAD process in the basic framework focusing on the African ownership and the worldwide partnership.

At the Asian-African summit in 2005, Japan announced its plans to double its Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Africa in three years.

Despite the tight economic constraint, Japan accomplished this goal in 2007.

TICAD is a policy forum for African development, which Japan initiated in 1993 with other co-organisers including the United Nations (UN), UNDP and the World Bank while the political awareness of African development by the international community was declining due to the end of the Cold war.

TICAD I provided an important opportunity to renew the public awareness of the international community about Africa.

After TICAD I, the process has led the initiative of the assistance for Africa in the international community, by holding summit-level conferences every five years (TICAD II in 1998 and TICAD III in 2003) and Ministerial and other meetings on sectoral issues such as trade and investment, consolidation of peace, as well as environmental conservation and energy.

Through the TICAD process, Japan has stressed the importance of the ownership of African countries and the partnership of the international community for African development.

This concept of 'ownership and partnership' has been disseminated widely in the international community through the TICAD process.

It also had a great influence on the establishment of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), a comprehensive strategic framework developed and adopted by African leaders.

With the belief that the application of Asia's development experience is useful for Africa, Japan has promoted cooperation between Asia and African countries.

Mr. Yamauchi is of the conviction "it has achieved visible outcomes in facilitating trade and investment and technical cooperation (such as training in third countries) between the two regions.

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